Accelerated BS/MS Program

Qualified UMBC undergraduate students can apply for admission into a suitable Master’s program as early as the first semester of their junior year. In Mechanical Engineering, the BS/MS option is mainly reserved for exceptional undergraduates who are already conducting research under the supervision of a ME Faculty adviser, and have decided to continue on to pursue an advanced degree at UMBC. Once accepted into the BS/MS programs, UMBC students are allowed to re-use some credits earned prior to undergraduate degree conferral to satisfy their graduate degree course requirement. The number of credits that can be `double counted’ is determined by GPA at the time of BS degree conferral (typically 9 credits if GPA>3.50 or 6 credits if GPA>3.25). Graduate research experience is ideal preparation for professional practice in Mechanical Engineering. The key advantage of the BS/MS degree program at UMBC is that it often speeds up the process of earning a MS degree by one or even two semesters while slightly reducing total tuition cost.

Admission Requirements:

1. Letter of recommendation from one and preferably two or more ME Faculty members

2. GPA > 3.0 at time of application and thereafter. In practice, most BS/MS students in Mechanical Engineering come from the top quartile of their undergraduate and Classes.

3. Application no later than 6 months prior to BS degree conferral.

Application Process:

Identify and meet with interested faculty mentor to develop research plan

Apply to UMBC Graduate School before last undergraduate semester using standard graduate application form. Note: BS/MS students are not required to submit TOEFL or GRE scores.

Course Requirements:

The course requirements for the BSME and MSME degrees earned in the BS/MS program are exactly the same as those for regular BS and MS degrees EXCEPT that qualified students are allowed (but not required) to use some credits used to satisfy the BS requirements for a second time to satisfy the MS degree. In most but not all cases, these credits must be earned in dual level (cross-listed) ENME 4xx/6xx/8xx courses taken at the 6xx or 8xx level